Kiddo Lifestyle | Mikayla 9-12 months

Sleeping: A typical night of sleep now starts around 8:30. She was routinely waking around 2 a.m. for feedings for several nights a few weeks back. I know that I feel better when I can get a solid chunk of sleep versus being awakened in between. Therefore, I thought I’d attempt to beat the system and begin dreamfeeding her around 11 p.m. right before I’d go to bed. This was a game-changer in more ways than one. I’d pick her up to nurse her while she was basically still half asleep, and I felt that she ate more considering she wasn’t distracted by daily activities. This helped her stay full longer and luckily she started sleeping until 7:30, 8 or 8:30. I woke a much happier person since I now could sleep from 11:30ish until morning. I need those chunks of sleep to keep those headaches at bay. I think for baby #2, I’ll definitely be introducing dreamfeeding at an earlier age to see if that helps me get more sleep. . She goes through wonderful napping phases such as sleeping for 2 hours in the late morning, and then an hour in the late afternoon. And then out of nowhere, she may start to refuse her naps all together which means we’ll all have a really awesome day (total sarcasm if you don’t know me)… or she’ll only do one nap the entire day. You never quite know what you’ll get when it’s crazy teething time. Sometimes she’ll prefer to be cuddled & rocked to sleep, but for the most part starting at around 9 months I’d say, she will simply point the crib & want to lay down on her stomach or side. She prefers to spread out. And as always, just like me… we need our white noise. I for one am the lightest sleeper ever, so white noise is my BFF. And by default, M got used to having white noise on since birth.

Eating: She’s still nursing about 3-4 times a day, 3 meals + snacks. She’s a hungry girl that one, but I would’t expect any less with the way her parents eat. And those thighs… well… they speak for themselves.

Playing: This girl has so many toys. And yes she prefers to tour the living room searching for everything that she can get her hands on that is off limits of course. I mean who needs toys when you have lamps to play with, candles, charging cords, coffee mugs, pinecones, etc. She definitely is always testing us and knows that she shouldn’t be touching certain things, yet does it anyway while staring us down as if she’s challenging us. She’s lucky she’s cute and we love her so. Within the last few weeks, she and her doggy (Diesel), have really grown close. I don’t know what changed, but something clicked and all of the sudden these 2 are inseparable. It’s almost to the point where it’s just too much, and they each need to be separated for a cool down period. Too many kisses from both parties, and too much play. Diesel sometimes gets so excited that he thinks she’s a puppy and starts to romp around excitedly, while throwing his paw in the air or nudging her with his nose while they walk through the room. (Yes, I’m also aware that Diesel herds her at times so we keep that in check.) Mikayla loves to give kisses and is always kissing his nose, his ears, his butt… whatever is available. She’s been starting to treat him as her pillow and I find her often leaning her back into him just lounging. She also will sit on his head or on his paws. The poor guy… I’m trying Diesel, I really am. I never want Diesel to feel as though Mikayla arrived and made him all of the sudden become unimportant. I want him to feel equal since their both my children. I protect him and I protect her. They each are learning to respect each other and their space and each get timeouts as necessary. I am so very thankful for how good Diesel is with Mikayla, but never want to become so comfortable that she can do whatever she wants to him. I want her to grow an understanding and respect for all animals, because you never know what dog she’ll encounter while out in public or at a friend’s home in the future. I think it’s important for kids to learn respect at an early age.

Personality: Mikayla is most herself at home in her familiar surroundings. She’s getting better at warming up to people in public such as the grocery store or Lowe’s (where we’ve been practically living the last 2 months through our basement renovation.) She usually has a serious face when around new people especially, but when you make those funny sounds or act silly, she’ll quickly warm up to you and you’ll be BFFs. She is very strong-willed and exhausting. Very sassy. Quick to demands. Loves to giggle, play & give kisses. She’s usually in her best mood right upon awakening in the mornings.